Fragmented Memory and Foreign Space: A Comparative Analysis of the “Same Experiment Again” of Tanuj Solanki and Anjum Hasan’s “The Big Picture”

Abstract

A short story is an expressive medium through which a writer conveys his or her feelings to readers. It is not so that the short story has its roots in modern times; it has roots in ancient times, though it was not known as it is today. The short story began its journey from prose extracts of big works and continued to the realm of Somerset Maugham, Anton Chekhov, R.K. Narayan and other modern writers, including Tanuj Solanki and Anjum Hasan. Anjum Hasan, a writer of more than three novels and two short story collections, received several literary awards and was shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Award. Tanuj Solanki is a Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar Awardee, novelist and short story writer whose novel The Machine is Learning was longlisted for the JCB Prize. The researcher adopted a qualitative method, comparative literary analysis and close reading of the texts. The study examines the fragmented life of the narrator in The Same Experiment Again and the irony of contemporary life, whereas Mrs Ali in The Big Picture struggles with identity, isolation and cultural displacement despite her love for art and painting on foreign land. The research presents these different situations of contemporary characters. The comparative examination highlights Tanuj Solanki's challenge to traditional storytelling through his fragmented contemporary character, an experimental writer frustrated with his lonely life in Bombay. In contrast, Mrs Ali's life is centred at home and her private art. The research opens the scope for further psychological study of Tanuj Solanki and Anjum Hasan.